Transfer Rumors: Wayne Rooney Leaving Manchester United For Major League Soccer?

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Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson believes Manchester United star Wayne Rooney should consider Major League Soccer as an attractive option.

Soccer fans have seen a number of European football stars make a move to MLS in the past couple of years. This even includes Rooney's former England teammates David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. This is why Rooney is also being linked to a possible move to MLS.

Analysts, pundits and even Merritt Paulson have a different take on why Rooney should be in MLS now more than ever.

Rooney, being at the age of 30, might as well consider joining the MLS before he loses a spot in the Premier League. Players usually enjoy the peak of their career at the age of 24 to 29, so Rooney may have all the reason to transfer to MLS before the dawn of his career. As per Paulson, MLS should be a good option for the England international, ESPN reported.

With that said, and given the history of English and European players that are now in MLS, it looks like Rooney might be next in line to start a career in the American league.

Not that Rooney is no longer in his best shape to stay in the English Premiere League, because he still is. In fact, he is still getting lucrative offers elsewhere. The Chinese Super League has been previously linked to the striker, saying that the league would pay him a total of £100 million for a three-year contract.

But as per Paulson, who seems to be trying to convince Rooney that MLS is the best option for him, MLS also offers a considerable amount of money. It is not as big as what he can get in China but relatively significant as well. And while China is a good option money-wise, players should also consider the geographic location when thinking about transferring.

But as far as football analysts are concerned, the MLS is a great option seeing what happened to Bastian Schweinsteiger who was told that he is no longer a part of the new coach's plan. Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho placed Schweinsteiger on the reserved team to train, Mirror UK reported.

Furthermore, football fans know how ruthless, strict and disciplined of a coach Jose Mourinho is. He doesn't look at the players individually, he looks at the team as a whole. The fact that he demoted Schweinsteiger, who was a long time football team captain for both Germany and Bayern Munich says a lot about what fans should expect.

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